England Cricket Team Reshuffles Lineup for Sri Lanka Series
In a move to bolster their squad for the upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka, the England cricket team has called up Essex batter Jordan Cox and Nottinghamshire bowler Olly Stone. The series, set to commence on August 21 at Old Trafford, Manchester, sees the replacements for the injured Zak Crawley and Dillon Pennington.
The primary beneficiary of these changes appears to be Dan Lawrence, who has been a regular but unused member of recent England squads. Lawrence is now in line to make his first actual appearance for the national team in over two years, likely slotting in as a stand-in opener.
Crawley, who fractured a finger during the final game of England’s recent 3-0 series win over the West Indies, is hoping to recover in time for the October tour of Pakistan. Pennington, who was part of the squad for all three West Indies games without making his international debut, has pulled a hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred tournament. He is considered unlikely to feature again this summer, with Derbyshire’s Pat Brown replacing him in the Superchargers lineup.
The 23-year-old Cox, who joined Essex at the start of the year, has caught the attention of England’s new coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes with his impressive performances in the County Championship, where he is averaging 69.36 with three centuries. Cox, who toured Pakistan with England’s white-ball squad in 2022, is now set to provide back-up batting options.
As for Olly Stone, the seam bowler has endured a string of injuries, including four stress fractures of the back and numerous muscle issues, since earning three Test caps between 2019 and 2021. He and Matt Potts will now offer seam-bowling cover for the pace attack of Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, and Gus Atkinson, who featured in the last two Tests against the West Indies.
The England Test squad for the Sri Lanka series is as follows:
- Ben Stokes (Durham, capt)
- Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
- Shoaib Bashir (Somerset)
- Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
- Jordan Cox (Essex)
- Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
- Dan Lawrence (Surrey)
- Ollie Pope (Surrey)
- Matthew Potts (Durham)
- Joe Root (Yorkshire)
- Jamie Smith (Surrey, wkt)
- Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire)
- Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
- Mark Wood (Durham)
The three-Test series against Sri Lanka will be played at the following venues:
- 1st Test: August 21-25, 2024, Old Trafford, Manchester
- 2nd Test: August 29 – September 2, 2024, Lord’s
- 3rd Test: September 6-10, 2024, The Oval
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